Origin

Old Englishlæppa, of Germanic origin; related to Dutchlap, German Lappen 'piece of cloth'. The word originally denoted a fold or flap of a garment (compare with lapel), later specifically one that could be used as a pocket or pouch, or the front of a skirt when held up to catch or carry something ( Middle English), hence the area between the waist and knees as a place where a child could be nursed or an object held.

Originally a lap was a fold or flap of a garment, which gave rise to lapel in the 17th century. By the Middle Ages it was also the front of a skirt when held up to catch or carry something, and from there the area between the waist and the knees as a place where a child can be nursed or an object held. Since the 1980s erotic dancers or striptease artists have also performed a lap dance while sitting on the laps of—or at least dancing close to—paying customers. In the lap of the gods can be traced back to several passages in the works of the Greek epic poet Homer, thought to have been written during the 8th century bc. The idea is that the course of events is determined by the gods, and so is completely outside human control. The phrase probably comes from the image of someone trying to placate or influence a person in authority by placing gifts in their lap as they sit ready to pass judgement. The lap of a race comes from extending the sense of a fold to that of a coil or something going round, but to lap in the sense a cat laps milk is unconnected and comes from a Germanic source.

2 [with object] (lap someone/something in) literaryEnfold or swathe a person or thing, especially a part of the body, in (something soft):he was lapped in blankets figurativeI was accustomed to being lapped in luxury

Origin

Originally a lap was a fold or flap of a garment, which gave rise to lapel in the 17th century. By the Middle Ages it was also the front of a skirt when held up to catch or carry something, and from there the area between the waist and the knees as a place where a child can be nursed or an object held. Since the 1980s erotic dancers or striptease artists have also performed a lap dance while sitting on the laps of—or at least dancing close to—paying customers. In the lap of the gods can be traced back to several passages in the works of the Greek epic poet Homer, thought to have been written during the 8th century bc. The idea is that the course of events is determined by the gods, and so is completely outside human control. The phrase probably comes from the image of someone trying to placate or influence a person in authority by placing gifts in their lap as they sit ready to pass judgement. The lap of a race comes from extending the sense of a fold to that of a coil or something going round, but to lap in the sense a cat laps milk is unconnected and comes from a Germanic source.

Origin

Originally a lap was a fold or flap of a garment, which gave rise to lapel in the 17th century. By the Middle Ages it was also the front of a skirt when held up to catch or carry something, and from there the area between the waist and the knees as a place where a child can be nursed or an object held. Since the 1980s erotic dancers or striptease artists have also performed a lap dance while sitting on the laps of—or at least dancing close to—paying customers. In the lap of the gods can be traced back to several passages in the works of the Greek epic poet Homer, thought to have been written during the 8th century bc. The idea is that the course of events is determined by the gods, and so is completely outside human control. The phrase probably comes from the image of someone trying to placate or influence a person in authority by placing gifts in their lap as they sit ready to pass judgement. The lap of a race comes from extending the sense of a fold to that of a coil or something going round, but to lap in the sense a cat laps milk is unconnected and comes from a Germanic source.